


Summer Rain

by notanotherscreenname



Series: Fenders Fics [1]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 06:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7157057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notanotherscreenname/pseuds/notanotherscreenname
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anders and Fenris are caught in a summer storm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from earlgreyer: "They were both soaked to the skin and laughing at the absurdity of the situation, the summer storm having caught them by surprise."
> 
> This is a bit of a prequel to Who Do You Desire as well.

Anders flopped onto his back and huffed out a breath. The summer heat was stifling even in the middle of the night and the tent he was sharing with Fenris was just serving to hold it all in on top of them. He sat up and pulled his shirt up and over his head but the sweat soaked fabric was clinging to his skin so that he had to struggle to remove it. When he finally wrested himself free of the garment he tossed it without looking, toward the front of the tent.   
  
"Still yourself Mage." Fenris, still in full armor, retrieved the shirt from its landing spot on his foot and tossed it back at Anders.   
  
_Does he sleep in all those spikes even in his bed in that run down mansion?_ "I'm sorry, it's just so bloody hot. How can you even think about sleeping in all that armor?"  
  
"It is not difficult. It is not as hot as I am accustomed to."  
  
Anders laid back trying to mimic the stillness Fenris had. It was no use, even without the shirt he was sweltering and without the fabric to soak it up his sweat was dripping off of him in distracting little rivulets. He did his best to ignore them but he just couldn’t. He sat up again and used his shirt to wipe himself down.  
  
Fenris had had enough, he stood and gathered up his bed roll. As he was parting the tent flap Anders was scrambling to follow him. He walked to the dead ashes of their campfire and dropped it off there cursing the Tal Vashoth that had injured Hawkes leg and forced them to camp here. On the best of days he could tolerate the mage and in the past he could share a tent with Isabela leaving Anders to bunk with Hawke but lately she and Hawke had been bunking together. That left him to a tent shared with the mage or sleeping under the sky. Given the heat and Anders' fitful tossing he decided that the latter was preferred.   
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"I am sleeping here."  
  
"That's actually not a bad idea, it's still hot out here but the air doesn't feel so close."  
  
Fenris made a disgusted noise and turned toward a stream that fed into the ocean. Anders tossed his hands up but followed him anyway. "Where are you going now?"  
  
"The stream water is clean and cold."  
  
"Oh good idea." A sip of clean cold water would go a long way in cooling him off. He followed Fenris chastising himself for not putting his boots back on every time his foot fell on a pebble. Fenris didn't seem to ever land on the pebbles. _Is it that his feet are tough and he doesn't feel it or does he somehow avoid them_? He would ask but he was sure Fenris didn't want to have a conversation about anything let alone something as mundane as his feet.  
  
When they reached the stream Fenris bent to fill a canteen that Anders hadn't seen him carrying. After he drained it he handed it off to Anders who filled it and did the same. It was so hot that the water lost its chill on contact with his tongue.   
  
"Sod it," he rolled his trousers up to his knees and waded in. "Oh Maker yes," he sighed, relieved as the water slipped around his ankles.   
  
"Mage, that is unwise."   
  
"Why? Come on Fenris, live a little roll those leggings up and get your feet wet."  
  
He grumbled a bit more but he was feeling the heat more acutely than he let on. He looked back and forth between the water and the mage deliberating.  
  
"You'll be fine I promise."  
  
Fenris had to admit to himself that the heat was uncomfortable and surely just getting his feet wet wouldn't hurt. He rolled his leggings up and gingerly dipped his toe in the water. When he found it pleasantly cool he stepped further in until he was standing next to the mage. Once there he felt awkward. He was unsure of what one does while wading in a stream for fun. The mage had a mischievous look to him which had Fenris ready to wade back to the bank until Anders pulled the leather tie from his hair and ducked his head down into the water.   
  
When he stood streams of it were cascading off of his head down to his shoulders and chest. Something about the way he laughed, the way it rang with joy, made Fenris' heart clench. He couldn't name the emotion that caused it envy, joy, longing whatever it was he wished he could experience what the mage felt. He took a step forward with no intention past being closer to him but his foot slipped on an algae coated rock and he had to brace himself against Anders to keep from falling.   
  
"Whoa now, that was surprisingly uncoordinated of you." Anders chuckled as he helped him right himself but when Fenris' glare was settled on his face he felt himself go cold. "Sorry, didn't mean to touch, I just didn't want you to fall."  
  
Fenris righted himself and slogged his way back to the bank. It wasn't the touch that had soured his mood, though that was part of it, it was how obvious it was that he was uncomfortable in the situation and how easily the mage just settled into it. It was almost as if he was flaunting how easy freedom came to him.   
  
When he reached the bank with Anders right on his heels he turned to speak but his words were interrupted by a rumble of thunder. Seconds later the rain began. It was just a drizzle at first, no more than a nuisance but it only lasted a moment before the rain began to fall in earnest. He curled his lip in a silent snarl as he turned to trudge his way back to camp.  
  
"Wait," Anders grabbed him by the bicep letting go as soon as he turned, "can't you just enjoy the rain?"  
  
"No, it is a storm, with lighting, ..."  
  
"It was just thunder, the lighting was far off. Come on it'll help cool us off."  
  
"My armor, …"  
  
"Is already drenched and it will dry out if you take it off and wipe it down in the tent, come on."  
  
"How do you suppose I should _enjoy the rain_?”  
  
Anders swiped at a stray hair that was stuck to his face to hide a grin and said, "like this," as he tapped Fenris on the arm and turned to run. "Tag, you're it."  
  
Fenris' scowl deepened but he couldn't form a protest for a flash of a memory that seized him. A small red haired elven girl was running and giggling before him turning back now and then to be sure he was following. He knew she wanted him to catch her and then what?  
  
"Mage, what are you doing?"  
  
He stopped slipping on the gravel that was loosening from the rain, "playing tag. You're it. Now chase me and tag me so I can chase you. It's fun I promise."  
  
"It is childish."  
  
"It is also fun. Live a little."  
  
If asked he wouldn't be able to put to words the feeling he had at that moment. He turned to walk away but the sound of Anders disappointed sigh clutched his chest. His own mischievous grin painted his face and he bolted for the mage. Anders for his part recovered from the surprise quickly but Fenris was faster and far more agile. Before long he had Anders pinned to a tree staring up at him defiantly.  
  
Anders was breathless and edging into fear thinking he had pushed just a bit too far. His eyes rounded when Fenris leaned into him and chuckled. "Tag."  
  
He turned and ran toward the clearing they had set camp in laughing under his breath as Anders followed cursing every thorn and stone his foot hit on the way. In the clearing he slid to a halt as he remembered his bed roll. It was drenched lying in a heap next to the fire pit. Anders skidded to a stop almost bowling him over. He saw what had Fenris vexed and felt a twinge if guilt. He was the reason Fenris felt the need to sleep outside of the tent. He was the reason Fenris had been distracted by the rain.   
  
"You can take my bedroll. I'll sleep on the ground."  
  
"No, I am fine."  
  
"It's unjust, it was my fault that yours got wet so you should take mine."  
  
"Is this you or your demon speaking?"  
  
"Both."  
  
"A compromise, I'll take the mat you take the blanket."  
  
Isabela, who had been spying on them through the flap in the tent she was sharing with Hawke startled them both by saying, "or you two could share the mat and blanket and cuddle."  
  
They both looked at her then looked back at each other. They were both soaked to the skin and laughing at the absurdity of the situation, the summer storm having caught them by surprise. They ducked into the tent leaving Isabela to ponder what she had just witnessed.


End file.
